Cal's Birthday

Someone very important had a birthday recently.  Our little guy turned four the day we left for our epic summer vacation to Utah, Canada, and everywhere in between.  Cal was pretty convinced that the plane ride was all part of his birthday celebration, and thanks to a kind flight steward who made a birthday announcement over the intercom and had all the passengers sing, it was part of the celebration!

Cal was so excited and surprised when he heard his name over the intercom, and when everyone started singing, he stood up and turned around on his chair to smile at everyone.  He held up four fingers excitedly and everyone laughed. 

The plane ride passed without a hitch thanks to Heather's dry erase workbook.  Look how focused he is: 

We flew Allegiant into Provo, which was a new experience for us, but it worked out perfectly.  Cal and I rented a car and finally made it to the Martins' home in Lehi, where we threw a family party for this little nugget:

 Balloons, pizza, presents, a birthday crown -- Cal was so excited about it all.  He has been requesting a car cake for the last 6 months, so I tried my hand at this crazy creation:

 A little droopy, but not bad! Here are the cousins posing with the car cake (complete with special #4 candle, which Cal insisted on keeping). I love that these two are such good friends.

 After dinner and cake, Cal got to open presents from the family. We scored a lot of educational toys to help with reading and writing this year. (Have I mentioned how excited we both are for Cal to start his preschool again this fall?)

 The next day, we rounded out our brief visit to the splash pad and gardens at Thanksgiving Point. It was a hot day! Perfect for a little water fun. We stopped by the huge koi pond to feed the fish.

 Then it was time to say goodbye. Cal and I were off to Canada with my parents. The boys were sad to leave each other:

 Thanks for a wonderful birthday party, Olsen family! Cal loved it! And the funnest part, was that he got to do it all over again at Grandma Linebarger's house the next night, too. Grandma had a cake ready with hot wheels cars on the top, and there were more present from the Richey family. Thanks to everyone for being so good to my little nugget.